Laura W. argues, in a manner reminiscent of a sailor, that people who are sick should stay home rather than contaminating the workplace with their disease. Joy McCann retorts that Laura must never has worked anywhere where she was actually necessary.

Joy’s right that some jobs are so deadline-driven that skipping work is simply not an option. Telecommuting would be a workable solution in many cases but not all of them.

Still, I’m sympathetic to Laura’s point. Indeed, I’m not sure that offices wouldn’t be more productive if they issued the directive that sick employees stay home, since one sick, absent employee is likely better than twenty sick, present ones. Realistically, though, such a policy would be subject to abuse.

Image: Stealthy Skirt via Google